--- title: Audio and Video Events author: Henry Quackenboss description: This article summarizes three common events in the DOM object that are used to manage audio and video files playing within webpages. published: 2025-1-22 --- ## Abort Event Abort events are triggered when a video or audio file's loading is aborted due to another function or due to user intervention. The abort event does NOT trigger if a video or audio segment fails to load because of an error. Errors are instead checked by the onerror event. An abort event can be used to mitigate a situation where a user should have been able to access media but did not due to any situation besides an error. ### Three resources to learn more about abort events: [onabort Event - w3 Schools](https://www.w3schools.com/jsref/event_onabort_media.asp) [HTMLMediaElement: abort event - mdn web docs_](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/HTMLMediaElement/abort_event) [The onabort event in Javascript - The JavaScript Source](https://javascriptsource.com/the-onabort-event-in-javascript/#:~:text=The%20JavaScript%20onabort%20event%20is,provide%20feedback%20to%20the%20user.) ### Abort event sample: ##### to try these code samples you will need an mp3 file named "trainingAudio.mp3" ```html Audio and Video Events ``` ## Playing Event Playing events are triggered whenever an audio or video file begins or resumes playing. The playing event will also trigger once media begins playing after stopping to buffer due to insufficient data. The playing event can be used for a wide variety of purposes, including gathering data about how often media is started or freezes per user per instance. There could also be accessibility and user experience applications of knowing when a user is currently interacting with the media. ### Three resources to learn more about playing events: [onplaying Event - w3 Schools](https://www.w3schools.com/jsref/event_onplaying.asp) [HTMLMediaElement: playing event - mdn web docs_](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/HTMLMediaElement/playing_event) [HTML DOM onplaying Event - geeks for geeks](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/html-dom-onplaying-event/) ### Playing event sample: ```html Audio and Video Events ``` ## Ended Event The ended event is triggered when a media file finishes playing. It is not triggered when a video is paused or freezes due to insufficient data. Ended events can also be used for a wide variety of purposes. One useful application that come to mind include to collect data about how many people finish watching or listening to media files or to check if a user has finished watching or listening to verify that they have. Another use that seems helpful is to display or play a thank you for watching/listening message at the end of media files. ### Three resources to learn more about ended events: [onended Event - w3 Schools](https://www.w3schools.com/jsref/event_onended.asp) [HTMLMediaElement: ended event - mdn web docs_](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/HTMLMediaElement/ended_event) [HTML DOM onended Event - geeks for geeks](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/html-dom-onended-event/) ### Ended event sample: ```html Audio and Video Events ```